You Wouldn't Understand
by toxic-blur
Summary: Ficlet. After a few glee club members raise concerns about Tina's well-being, Mr. Schue takes matters into his own hands.  Mentorship.


**A/N:** Someone on tumblr asked me for a Will/Tina fic. I wrote this.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee.

"Mr. Schuester, a serious problem within the glee club has recently been brought to my attention and I feel it's my responsibility to discuss it with you." Rachel said, crossing towards Will with a look of grim determination on her face.

Will suppressed an exasperated groan. If this was another harangue about the lack of solos—

"I'm worried about Tina." Rachel said, her voice soft. She looked up at Will, her brown eyes glinting with concern. "She's not herself lately. She's the quietest I've ever seen her, she's lethargic, and— " she paused to chew her lip for a moment, unsure if she could bring herself to say the last part, for its implications. "And she's been taking some kind of pills. I'm not suggesting she's a _junkie_ or anything, it's just— something is wrong. I suppose everyone would expect me to be happy about it, I mean, it_ is_ less competition for solos. But I'm not heartless. I think she might really be in need of help."

Will talked with Rachel for a bit longer before ushering her out the door with a promise that he'd look into her concerns. Normally, he wouldn't have been too fraught with worry over something that Rachel had said, but Rachel hadn't been the first to voice concerns about Tina.

Santana and Brittany had stopped Will in the hall between classes the previous day. Santana remarked that Tina had "practically knocked my ass to the ground the other day when she fell into me. We weren't even dancing; she just fell over. I just think we need to get the girl a CAT scan, is all I'm saying."

Brittany's concern, however, was a bit more specific. "Are we sure Tina isn't a vampire, Mr. Schue? Because she doesn't really eat anymore. Every day at lunch she just pushes her food around on her tray. Kind of like the meatball in Lady and the Tramp, except she doesn't use her nose."

Maybe separate their concerns could be chalked up to little more than overactive imaginations, but combined, they seemed to scream that something was seriously wrong. Will decided to investigate for himself.

The next day, he watched Tina as inconspicuously as possible. He found that the girls' recaps of Tina's behavior hadn't been exaggerated— she seemed completely devoid of energy, she hardly spoke at all, and at one quick between-class stop at her locker, she downed a few pills from various bottles that Will couldn't quite make out the labels of.

It was enough. He pulled Tina discreetly into his office after school. He sat uneasily at his desk, a look of concern etched onto his face as he watched her fidget and shift uncomfortably in her chair. Will broke the awkward silence with a sigh.

"Tina, what's going on? You don't seem to be yourself lately." Will said, trying his best not to sound accusatory.

Tina shook her head and smiled feebly. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine. Can I go?"

Will frowned. "No. I'm sorry. Look, Tina, I'm not sure how to say this, but— are you dealing with a drug addiction?"

Tina sat bolt upright in her chair, her mouth dropping open in shock. "What? No! I'm taking _Tylenol_ for headaches, and— " she cut herself off, looking uncertainly at Will.

He nodded. He spoke softly, urging her to continue. "And?"

Tina sighed. "Appetite suppressants. I'm just trying to lose some weight. It's not a big deal."

Will leaned forward a bit, his voice calm but firm. "Tina, it_ is_ a big deal when you're experiencing headaches and fatigue from not eating. It's a big deal when other glee club members are worried that you're sick. You need to talk to someone about this and— "

"No." Tina said curtly. She kept her face blank, but the panic in her eyes was unmistakable. "I don't need to talk to anyone. It's under control. And I swear, I'm not doing this for attention. So please, just leave me alone."

Will sighed and shook his head. "You know I can't do that. I'm responsible for your safety when you're in this school. And above all of that, you're in my glee club. I know you. _I care about you._ I want you to be able to talk to me."

Tina sat silently in her chair, frowning and staring intently at the floor.

Will let a few awkward, quiet minutes pass before speaking again. "It's me or Ms. Pillsbury."

Tina looked up at Will. She spoke hesitantly. "It's just— you wouldn't understand."

Will smiled faintly. "Try me."

Tina shifted in her chair again, crossing her arms over her torso as she spoke. "I just don't feel pretty. Most of the time I just really hate my body. And I think that if I just lose some weight, I'll feel better about myself."

Will's mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried to find the appropriate words. "You— you're a very attractive girl, Tina. And you're nowhere near overweight, I don't see what you find so objectionable in your appearance."

Tina rolled her now tear-filled eyes. "No, maybe I'm not overweight. But I'm not exactly skinny, either. And I just feel fat. I do. I mean, I look at Mercedes and Lauren and they _own_ their curves. They're big and beautiful. I'm not that. But I'm also not tiny and pretty like the rest of the girls in the glee club. I just... I feel like I don't belong in either group. And I know I say that I want to stand out and be unique, but sometimes it just really hurts to not fit in, you know?" She swiped a tear from her cheek and cast her gaze back to the floor.

"But what about Mike? You two are dating. I'm sure he tells you how pretty you are." Will asked, hoping the mention of Tina's boyfriend would be a positive reminder.

Tina nodded. "Yeah, he does. But that just makes it worse. I mean, he's so cute and he's got this _amazing_ body and I just never feel like I'm good enough for him. Honestly, I'm kind of waiting for him to dump me for someone hotter."

Will rounded his desk and sat down next to Tina. "Hey." he said. "Would you look at me, please?"

Tina hesitated, but slowly turned in her chair and looked at Will.

Will looked into her eyes, reaching over to brush another tear from her cheek as he spoke. "You are _beautiful,_ Tina. Maybe you don't see it, but you are. One of my favorite things about you is that you do your own thing. You wear what you want, you like what you like, and you're unafraid of being different. That alone makes you beautiful as far as I'm concerned, but I have to say, you're a very beautiful girl in the conventional sense of the word as well."

A slight blush crept over Tina's face. "Y-you really think that?"

Will nodded, smiling warmly. "I absolutely do. And you know what? Don't compare yourself to the other girls; you might not be able to tell, but they've got just as many hang-ups about their bodies as you do. And, you know, you're perfect the way you are."

Tina's blush deepened as a smile overtook her face. "Thanks, Mr. Schue."

Will grinned. "Anytime. But you're still going to talk to Ms. Pillsbury."

Tina groaned. "You're serious?"

Will nodded, standing up and heading for the door. "I'm afraid so. I can't get away with keeping something like this from the school's guidance counselor. She'll just want to talk to you to make sure you're okay."

Tina sighed and reluctantly made her way over to the door. "Fine. But no pamphlets."

Will chuckled. "Oh, I definitely can't promise you that."

"Well, uh. Could you maybe— would you mind staying with me?" Tina asked, looking up at Will as she leaned against the doorframe.

Will smiled and slung an arm around her shoulder as they started down the hallway. "I'm not going anywhere."


End file.
